A digital archive of Asian/Asian American contemporary art history

Myth Made Flesh

1987
mixed media

Work from the installation series, Parallel World II: A World Made Flesh.

"While I had often spoken metaphorically of the process of making art as a kind of journey into terra incognita--an unknown land--and of the completed art as evidence of my passage, towards the end of 1985 I realized that the unknown land actually existed in the form of a world parallel to our own, accessible only through my art.

I began to create my first Parallel World installation, Intimations of a Parallel World, by producing what I called "visual field notes," which I cut out and strung up, one in relationship to another."--artist's statement from an exhibition brochure "Who Killed the Queen?" by China Marks, 1998. pp. 8.

"Glossary:
China3 - a world parallel to our own, discovered by China Marks in 1985, accessible through her art. Named after herself, it was given a numerical subscript to distinguish it from the People's Republic of China and Taiwan"--pp. 44

"Frequently Asked Questions: Does China3 really exist?
- I can't know for sure, but as I wrote in the "Guide to the Parallel World, Part Two, A World Made Flesh"(1987), since the Parallel World wouldn't exist without my efforts to make it manifest, it probably isn't as real as, for example, the state of Iowa, which has never needed any help from me. On the other hand, shared illusions have their own considerable powers. Mickey Mouse outlived Walt Disney, and more people have visited Oz than Iowa."--pp. 42

Materials

mixed media
Myth Made Flesh
Myth Made Flesh
Source: Slide
Installation view of work
Myth Made Flesh Myth Made Flesh